It was heretofore known to use rotary valves with internal combustion engines. The rotary valves may be located in the cylinder head and, through the use of internal passages, open and close ports in the cylinder head to alternately deliver fuel to the combustion chamber for combustion and allow exhaust to escape from the combustion chamber after the combustion.
Rotary valves eliminate the need for all of the parts used in conventional valve trains and, thus, can be easier to manufacture and install. In addition, valves used in the conventional valve trains have a reciprocating motion, which is a drawback in high speed operation. This drawback is eliminated by the use of rotary valves. Additionally, a longstanding problem associated with internal combustion engines, regardless of the type of valve employed, is inefficient distribution of fuel to the combustion chamber and removal of exhaust from the combustion chamber.
An object of this invention is to improve upon internal combustion systems by providing an improved rotary valve system having a novel gas passage design comprising a groove extending around the periphery of the rotary valve shaft, which provides a more efficient flow of intake and exhaust gasses through the valving.
In accordance with this and other objectives, a rotary valve system for an internal combustion engine is provided which comprises a novel rotary valve having a means for the passage of fuel gas into and exhaust gas out of the combustion chamber. The passage means comprises the groove extending 360.degree. around the periphery of a shaft.
In a first embodiment, the passage means also comprises a notch, which communicates with the groove and which, by rotation of the rotary valve shaft, is adapted to align with one of the ports of the combustion chamber. This embodiment may comprise either a single shaft comprising both the intake and exhaust fuel passage means or two shafts with one of them comprising the intake fuel passage means and the other comprising the exhaust fuel passage means. With either version of this first embodiment, one of the notches is adapted to align with the intake port and one of the notches is adapted to align with the exhaust port.
In another embodiment, the fuel passage means also comprises a valve channel which extends through the rotary valve and which communicates with the groove. In the preferred version of this embodiment, the channel extends at an angle from the bottom of the groove to the periphery of the shaft. Preferably, there is an intake rotary valve shaft and an exhaust rotary valve shaft. The channels of the rotary valve shafts, by rotation of those shafts, are adapted to align with either the intake or exhaust port of the combustion chamber.
The foregoing invention, and its advantages, may be more readily appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, when read in conjunction with the following drawings: